Chapter 65: Chapter 65

It didn’t seem like he was just pretending to be unhurt.

This was a technique that even an S-rank hunter couldn’t endure without screaming, and even if it was an act, it didn’t change the fact that the young man was formidable.

“Surely this isn’t the end?”

The young man dropped the baseball bat he was holding and raised his sword above his head.

“If you have more tricks up your sleeve, now is the time to reveal them.”

Hearing the young man’s words, Kang Jin-hyuk swallowed his frustration.

After using such a powerful technique, hearing something like that hurt his pride.

But at that moment, there was no way left for Kang Jin-hyuk to restore his wounded pride.

‘There’s no point in using the Alraune’s spirit right now.’

Even doubling his stats wouldn’t change the fact that the skill gap was like heaven and earth.

In such a case, all he could do was last a little longer before being crushed.

Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t want to think about ending up that way.

Completely excluding the option of using the spirit from his mind, all that remained were the potions he had prepared in piles.

“Given the situation, I must go all-in!”

Kang Jin-hyuk gathered all his remaining MP, preparing to unleash his aura.

There was no need to coat his entire body with aura to block a direct attack.

Focusing on both hands, he swung his bat to deflect the sword that the young man swung down vertically.

Though he barely avoided having his head severed, it was Kang Jin-hyuk who was pushed back, struggling against the extraordinary force of the young man.

Before he lost his balance and fell, he concentrated aura on his legs and kicked the ground with all his might.

Propelling himself away, he created distance between himself and the young man.

“Are you running away? If you wish, I will end this test right here.”

“Shut up and let me think!”

Kang Jin-hyuk shouted with irritation, and the young man looked at him with a bewildered expression.

It was the first time he had seen someone react to him like that.

“How rude.”

His attitude showed no trace of courtesy whatsoever.

Still, it didn’t seem wholly unpleasant.

The young man felt a refreshing change he hadn’t felt in a while.

“Only humans cling to hopeless endeavors.”

Even from an objective standpoint, there was no hope for victory for Kang Jin-hyuk.

It would be more plausible for him to surrender by dropping his weapon rather than face off directly.

Kang Jin-hyuk himself was aware of this fact.

But he had no intention of yielding.

If he couldn’t pass the test here and gain power, he would end up dead at the hands of either Jo Won-cheol or Kang Jun-tae, whoever survived.

That desperate situation robbed Kang Jin-hyuk of any inclination to give up.

For him, the only paths left were to die or to win.

Having come this far, halting now was not an option.

The blonde young man noticed the determination in Kang Jin-hyuk’s eyes and realized his mindset.

While he didn’t know the particulars, he could clearly see his resolve.

“Very well. If that is your intent, I won’t bother with unnecessary formalities.”

“What are you rambling about now?”

“I will attack you with only a fraction of my power.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a dazzling radiance emanated from the young man’s body.

Brilliant golden aura.

It was the same color as the aura Kang Jin-hyuk had used before acquiring his hidden class.

“Divine power…?”

Hearing Kang Jin-hyuk mutter, the young man was impressed.

“You actually discerned that. So, do you know how to counter it?”

“How am I supposed to know that?!”

“Better start thinking now. If not, you’ll surely die.”

The young man concentrated the aura in both arms.

Focused in one place, the aura gleamed even brighter, illuminating the surroundings vividly.

Seeing the young man concentrate his aura just like that made Kang Jin-hyuk scoff incredulously.

“Isn’t the direction of the attack quite obvious when you use aura like that?”

“Exactly. That was my intention.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it a bit harsh to not give you a fair chance? This much is necessary.”

Kang Jin-hyuk’s blood began to boil with frustration.

It implied that he would clearly reveal where the attack would come from, so it was up to him to dodge.

Enduring such treatment felt like a blow to his pride as a man.

He gripped the bat tightly, with a serious expression, as if he were in the last inning with two outs.

“Let’s see what you can do.”

Kang Jin-hyuk stood his ground, facing the young man directly from a distance of about 20 meters.

It seemed considerable, but both he and the young man could close that gap in an instant.

“Don’t be reckless. Why choose to confront when you could simply evade?”

“Whether it’s reckless or not, I’ll find out when I try.”

Hearing Kang Jin-hyuk’s defiant response, the young man clicked his tongue.

“I had thought you were a somewhat competent human. But now I see you don’t even know your limits.”

Having lost his expectations, the young man stepped forward without hesitation.

The aura he summoned spread along his hand, reaching the sword’s blade.

“This might be the last scenery you’ll witness. So make sure to engrave it well in your mind.”

The golden aura enveloped the blade completely, shining like a lightsaber from a film.

Kang Jin-hyuk recognized it as something he had seen before in the fantasy novels he’d read.

“Could that possibly be the Aura Blade?”

“Looks like you know something after all. Now you realize how foolish it would be to block it head-on?”

What the young man demonstrated was indeed a technique that existed only in imagination.

An emblematic technique of Swordmasters, said to slice through anything effortlessly.

In every story, the Aura Blade was depicted as a technique of immense power.

Seeing it with his own eyes, Kang Jin-hyuk finally understood why it was described so fearsomely.

‘While I thought it might someday be possible to use aura like that…’

The timing of facing it was sooner than expected.

What’s more, it was being wielded by someone else, not him.

Rather than fear, curiosity surged within Kang Jin-hyuk.

“Isn’t it just a way to shape aura like a sword?”

Putting aura into a weapon was not particularly difficult.

Kang Jin-hyuk poured a couple of high-grade MP potions from his inventory and summoned his own aura.

His crimson aura extended from the bat he held as it flickered like flames.

“Surely you don’t think that can compare to my Aura Blade?”

“Why not? They don’t seem much different when looked at.”

In appearance, they were hardly different at all.

Kang Jin-hyuk thought that this kind of difference was trivial.

Yet between the two, a great chasm indeed existed.

“Unlike the Aura Blade, your aura is merely a chaotic outpour without any control whatsoever.”

The young man generously explained the difference.

But Kang Jin-hyuk did not comprehend what that signified at the moment.

“What difference does it make?”

“Hasn’t it dawned on you even after consuming those potions? An uncontrolled outpour like yours is extremely inefficient and lacks power.”

As long as Kang Jin-hyuk’s aura continued to be drained without pouring in MP, it would quickly dissipate.

But if he could capture his aura like the young man did, he could sustain it with little mana.

Because the concentrated power wasted nothing, it would exhibit monstrous cutting power when applied to any attack.

“It’s better to experience it than to hear it in words.”

Even when living in different worlds, the saying that seeing is believing rang true.

The young man lifted his sword to shoulder height, then sprang forward without hesitation.

To close the twenty-meter gap, it took no more than a single step.

With a force that shook the ground, the young man leaped, swinging his sword enveloped in the Aura Blade towards Kang Jin-hyuk.

Having prepared himself in advance, Kang Jin-hyuk stood unfazed before the fearsome speed.

Keeping calm, he reached the bat in the direction opposite to that of the young man’s swinging sword, effectively trying to intercept it.

Bam!

In a space entirely enveloped in darkness, a tremendous sound echoed, resonating through the surroundings.

At the center of the commotion, the crimson aura valiantly clashed against the golden one, a struggle for dominance.

“What are you doing?! You thought you could face that with this pathetic little power?!”

Riotous energy exploded with each shout from the young man, causing Kang Jin-hyuk’s crimson aura to lessen as it was gradually sliced away.

What had once burned fiercely began to dwindle to mere embers.

In contrast, the young man’s Aura Blade showed no signs of slowing, its power untouched as it approached Kang Jin-hyuk’s baseball bat.

Though it usually withstood any attack like iron, this time, it seemed hopeless.

“Crap!”

At this rate, it felt like he’d be split cleanly in half along with his baseball bat.

Kang Jin-hyuk did not wish to die in such an embarrassing manner.

However, just wishing for survival wouldn’t change anything enough.

Having foreseen such a possibility, he had his own method of escape prepared in advance.

Though he felt uncertain about whether he could actually execute it.

“Gaaahhh!!”

Kang Jin-hyuk abandoned his hesitation and poured forth all his aura into one concentrated point.

That singular point where the Aura Blade and the baseball bat collided would bear all of his aura.

As he witnessed the concentrated force surge, the young man’s eyes went wide with surprise for the first time.

“Is it possible to channel aura this strongly?!”

The overflowing strength stabilized and erupted, creating a force capable of pushing the Aura Blade aside.

However, such a tremendous expenditure drained Kang Jin-hyuk’s MP like a leaky bucket, rapidly diminishing.

He wouldn’t be able to consume potions while clashing like this, leading to a swift depletion of his aura.

“That was quite a remarkable move, wasn’t it?”

Taking advantage of the waning resistance, the young man aimed to penetrate through and strike Kang Jin-hyuk’s baseball bat.

At that moment, a sharp sound echoed as the young man’s sword shattered cleanly.

Watching his sword split in two, the young man chuckled lightly, a smile spreading across his face.

“It seems that common iron swords can’t withstand this.”

Even with his sword broken, the young man’s attack wasn’t entirely thwarted.

If desired, he could easily substitute it with an Aura Blade.

Yet, instead, the young man chose to retreat.

“Huff… Huff…”

Kang Jin-hyuk desperately tried to strike, but he didn’t have the strength left to follow through.

His consumption of MP left him drained, barely managing to remain standing.

Continuing the fight in this state would only lead to complete disaster for him.

“Don’t give me that look. You were the one who insisted on facing me head-on.”

Even if he crumbled under pressure, it was solely due to Kang Jin-hyuk’s own persistence to confront.

“By the way, that aura you’ve been using… it’s not solely comprised of mana, is it?”

Having engaged with Kang Jin-hyuk, the young man realized that the aura was fueled by divine power.

Upon hearing this, Kang Jin-hyuk questioned curiously.

“What does that matter?”

“Hey, don’t get too carried away with turning a blind eye.”

Feigning serious, the young man casually turned back to reveal his older appearance this time, striking Kang Jin-hyuk with the tip of his cane upon his forehead.

“From now on, you’ll be the one to serve me. So you’ll need to be at least slightly courteous!”

“What the hell is this nonsense… Aah!”

Kang Jin-hyuk crumpled to one knee as an intense pain pierced through his head where the cane had touched.

“The divine power rooted within you means that enhancing it will be a simple task.”

The old man watched with a smile as Kang Jin-hyuk writhed in agony.

“How does it feel to connect directly with a god?”